Two Black men in Orlando were stopped by police who mistook them for robbery suspects, and were forced to crawl on the ground in a shocking video.
The Orlando Police Department confirmed on Thursday that two men were detained because they allegedly fit the description of armed robbers on bikes, TMZ reports.
A man on vacation told police that two dark-skinned Black men on bikes he said had a gun stole his wallet, Apple Watch and digital camera. According to TMZ, police officials indicated that officers responded to the man’s report almost 10 minutes later and apprehended the two men riding their bikes. They were later released after the victim said they were not the attackers.
In what appears to be a clip from a GoPro, one of the cyclists asks the police why he and his friend are being detained with guns drawn at them. The Black man pleaded with the police that they were innocence and said they were just coming from a nearby 7-Eleven.
“I’m saying you got your gun drawn, and I didn’t do nothing,” he said.
For some unexplained reason, police asked the man’s companion to crawl toward them while he was on his hands and knees, per their request.
Later in the clip, the man recording is asked why they are being held and an officer answers that they match the description of two robbers.
“I don’t know what description y’all talking about but I feel violated right now," he said. “You guys got my buddy right there crawling. I’m encuffed [sic]. I didn’t do nothing wrong.”
In a TikTok video obtained by TMZ, the man said they were finally released after the man who was allegedly robbed confirmed they were not the men that robbed him.
“They brought the person over who actually got robbed and they was sitting in the truck," he said of the incident. "They had me stand up, they had the spotlight shine on me… and then the person said ‘no, that’s not them.’”
He added that when he activated his GoPro camera, the police were following them before they pulled ahead of them to stop them.
People were outraged on social media over the encounter especially given the tense climate between police and the Black community.
One Twitter user took to the platform to express that it’s past the time society starts holding law enforcement to higher standards.
“When will good cops realize that they match the description of the bad cops? Black men and women also want to return home alive at the end of the day. Cops must be held to a higher standard,” they wrote.
When will good cops realize that they match the description of the bad cops?
Black men and women also want to return home alive at the end of the day.
Cops must be held to a higher standard.
— #HereRightMatters #MeidasMatters (@VoteBlue4Us) April 22, 2021
With several others relying on the tired trope of "Black-on-Black crime," a separate person on Twitter expressed that she was exhausted by that unfounded excuse.
“No matter how many Black people are murdered by the police, there will always be some white people who will invoke the tired, raggedy, black-on-black crime argument. Y’all are exhausting,” she tweeted.
